Conventional shoes have a heel and sole fixedly attached, by gluing or other attachment process, to an outsole of the shoe body. However, when the sole or heel is damaged or worn out, the sole or heel must be completely separated from the shoe outsole before a new sole or heel can be selected and attached to the shoe. Typically, a skilled shoe repairman is needed to effectuate the repairs, which is costly and usually takes some time. In addition, where it is desirable for a new sole or heel to be placed on a shoe in order to accommodate differing environments, such as for indoor conditions or for outdoor conditions, such as rain or snow, consumers often discard the entire shoe rather than going through the time and expense of replacing the sole or the heel.
Prior art shoes do not provide replaceable soles and heels or soles that are easily removed and replaced. In addition, conventional shoes cannot accommodate different soles or heels according to changing conditions and applications. Furthermore, the outsoles of the prior art conventional shoes do not securely hold the replaceable sole or heel, allowing the sole or heel to move with respect to the shoe upper.
Examples of prior art shoes with replaceable heels are the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: U.S. Pat. No. 430,234 to Melaney; U.S. Pat. No. 1,205,421 to Applegate; U.S. Pat. No. 1,399,542 to Chenery; U.S. Pat. No. 1,773,242 to Siekacz; U.S. Pat. No. 1,786,374 to Walton; U.S. Pat. No. 1,936,637 to Manfra; U.S. Pat. No. 1,950,041 to Torchia et al; U.S. Pat. No. 2,234,542 to Anderson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,504 to Deitch; U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,336 to Herro; U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,294 to Goodyear; U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,209 to Bensley; U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,139 to Silver; U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,100 to Rhodes; U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,853 to Zuber; U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,344 to Ching; U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,631 to Fenton; U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,822 to Johnson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,104 to Tally; U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,950 to Wang; U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,280 to Halliday; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,857 to Ouellette et. al; as well as WO 86/04489 to Saffron et. al.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a shoe with a shoe sole that includes outsole portions that can be easily replaced by the wearer of the shoe.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoe with a shoe sole that can accommodate a variety of outsole portions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a shoe with a shoe sole that includes outsole portions that prevent wear to the shoe sole itself.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a shoe with shoe sole that securely retains and restricts the movement of the replaceable outsoles.
The foregoing objects are basically attained by a shoe sole comprising a main sole portion having a bottom wall with upper and lower surfaces, opposing first and second ends, and a first fastener hole, the first fastener hole being located proximate the first end, and a lower support wall extending downwardly from the lower surface along a perimeter of the bottom wall forming a first cavity, the first cavity having an inner surface and being located at the first end; an insole portion disposed on the upper surface of the bottom wall having a first fastener receiving bore corresponding to the first fastener hole of the main sole portion; a first lower sole portion having a bottom surface and received in the first cavity such that the bottom surface of the first lower sole portion is substantially below the lower support wall, the first lower sole portion having a first fastener aperture corresponding to the first fastener hole of the main sole portion and to the first fastener receiving bore of the insole portion; and a first fastener extending through the first fastener aperture, the first fastener hole, and the first fastener receiving bore, releasably securing the first lower sole portion to the main sole portion.
The foregoing objects are also attained by a shoe sole comprising a main sole portion having a bottom wall with upper and lower surfaces, opposing first and second ends, and a first fastener hole, the first fastener hole being located proximate the first end, and a lower support wall extending downwardly from the lower surface along a perimeter of the bottom wall forming a first cavity at the first end; an insole portion disposed on the upper surface of the bottom wall having a first fastener receiving bore corresponding to the first fastener hole of the main sole portion; a first lower sole portion having a bottom surface received in the first cavity, the first lower sole portion includes top and bottom layers with the top layer being substantially more rigid than the bottom layer, a first fastener aperture corresponding to the first fastener hole of the main sole portion and to the first fastener receiving bore of the upper sole portion; and a first fastener extending through the first fastener aperture, the first fastener hole, and the first fastener receiving bore, respectively, releasably securing the first lower sole portion to the main sole portion.
By designing the shoe sole in this fashion, the wearer of the shoe can easily replace the first and second lower sole portions with other outsole portions as desired. Also, the shoe sole can accommodate different types of outsoles for different applications. In addition the lower sole portions help to prevent wear on the rest of the shoe sole.
Other objects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment of the invention.